Feasibility study recommended for NM project

Toronto—IC Potash Corp. (ICP) said Jan. 11 that it has filed it has filed – on SEDAR (www.sedar.com) and the company website (www.icpotash.com) – a technical report dated Dec. 30, 2011, entitled “NI 43-101 Technical Report Prefeasibility Study for the Ochoa Project Lea County, New Mexico.” The report was prepared for ICP by Gustavson Associates, LLC of Colorado, a leading global mining consulting firm consisting of geologists and engineers. The company said Gustavson has concluded that the results of this study warrant continued efforts to advance the Ochoa Project, and that the data and information presented justify further definition drilling, metallurgical testing, continued development and permitting, and preparation of a feasibility study. Highlights from the prefeasibility study include: annual production at full capacity of 843,000 tons, composed of 568,000 tons of SOP and 275,000 tons of SOPM; operating cost of $147 per ton of SOP and SOPM; projected full capacity capital cost of $706 million; 139 million tons of recoverable potash reserves in the proven and probable ore category within the 40-year mine plan, and an additional 205 million tons of recoverable potash reserves in the mine plan area not included in the 40 year economic model; construction planned to start in late 2013 upon completion of an environmental impact statement; preproduction construction period of 24 months (completion during the fourth quarter of 2015), with completion of a second train of crystallizers nine months following initial production; full production 18 months after plant start-up, with production commencing in the fourth quarter of 2015 and full capacity reached in second quarter of 2017; underground mining rate that varies with mine grade, with an average planned production rate of 3.5 million tons of ore per year at an average concentration ratio of 4.15:1; average metallurgical recovery estimated at 90 percent; internal rate of return on a before-tax basis of 32 per cent, on a 100 percent equity basis, and 26 percent on an after-tax basis; after-tax net present value of $1,286 million, using an after tax discount rate of 10 per cent and no debt; and a payback period from the commencement of production of 3.9 years after tax.